How Dare Me!!

How dare me! How dare me to offer an opinion that does anything but affirm and validate whatever direction you choose your life to go. How dare me to point out that the direction you are traveling may end up at a destination you don't want to be. How dare me to intrude on your sovereign right to define Christianity any way that you want to define it. How dare me to dislike or question what you wear, where you go, how you drive, what you do, what habits you've picked up, what habits you've dropped, the moral choices you make or the attitudes you display. You expect me to give unqualified acceptance and approval of your life and if I don't you say that I am “judging you.” How dare me! How dare me to forget that you are autonomous and unaccountable to anyone; not to me, not to God, not to the church, not to your parents and not to your associates. You alone are the decision-maker.

How dare me to bring up what Jesus said, that is condemnation. How dare me to point out the dead end you are on, that is hate. How dare me to ask why you're dating such a troubled person, that is judging. How dare me to notice your drinking habits, that is none of my business. How dare me question your slipping spiritual state, that's personal. How dare me to notice anything about your life; I'm a bad person, a negative Nelly, a critic and a dark cloud when I give you anything but praise.

Poor Jesus, he was the worst judge of all. How dare Jesus to forgive a woman caught in adultery. How dare Jesus to tell that same woman not to do that anymore! How dare Jesus heal a paralyzed man and tell him not to sin again lest something worse happens to him. How dare Jesus throw businesspeople out of the Temple. How dare Jesus say he knows what is happening in hearts. How dare Jesus tell the self-righteous that they were hypocrites. How dare Jesus point out the disciples lack of faith. How dare Jesus tell a rich man to sell all that he has and follow him. How dare Jesus say that people end up in hell. How dare Jesus say that following any other way but his is the wrong way. How dare Jesus actually define what a follower of his looks like; that they lay down their life for others, they go last instead of first, they forsake their own autonomy and selfishness, they obey a higher law and they lead life worthy of the calling to which they've been called - among other things.

How dare me to raise these standards and teachings of Jesus in a world gone wild. If you bristle at his judgments, maybe you are judging yourself!